Candlestick Park, seen here in 1983, was hailed when it opened in 1960 as the first truly modern stadium.

Photo: Frederic Larson

Candlestick Park, seen here in 1983, was hailed when it opened in...

Image 2 of 20

Opening day at Candlestick Park is seen in this aerial view on April 12, 1960 in San Francisco, Calif. 42,269 attended as the Giants beat the Cardinals 3-1.

Photo: Unknown, Chronicle Archives 1960

Opening day at Candlestick Park is seen in this aerial view on...

Image 3 of 20

** FILE ** San Francisco Giants' Bobby Bonds is shown in action at Candlestick Park in San Francisco in this May 11, 1973 file photo. Bonds, one of the first major leaguers to blend home-run power with base-stealing speed and the father of one of baseball's greatest sluggers, died Saturday, Aug. 23, 2003. He was 57. (AP Photo/File)
ALSO Ran on: 03-11-2007
Alfonso Soriano (top) will try and make like Bobby Bonds (above) did and supply power and speed in the leadoff spot. Chicago will even take the strikeouts, but hopefully not as many as the free-swinging Bonds had in his day.
Ran on: 03-11-2007
Alfonso Soriano (top) will try and make like Bobby Bonds (above) did and supply power and speed in the leadoff spot. Chicago will even take the strikeouts, but hopefully not as many as the free-swinging Bonds had in his day.

Photo: Ap, AP

** FILE ** San Francisco Giants' Bobby Bonds is shown in action at...

Image 4 of 20

SAN FRANCISCO - JANUARY 6: Head coach Bill Walsh of the San Francisco 49ers talks to quarterback Joe Montana #16 during the 1984 NFC Championship Game against the Chicago Bears at Candlestick Park on January 6, 1985 in San Francisco, California. The Niners defeated the Bears 23-0. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/Getty Images)

Photo: Michael Zagaris, Getty Images

SAN FRANCISCO - JANUARY 6: Head coach Bill Walsh of the San...

Image 5 of 20

Head coach Bill Walsh of the San Francisco 49ers speaks during a pregame ceremony before the final home game of running back O.J. Simpson #32 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Candlestick Park on December 9, 1979 in San Francisco, California. The Niners defeated the Bucs 23-7.

Photo: Michael Zagaris, Getty Images

Head coach Bill Walsh of the San Francisco 49ers speaks during a...

Image 6 of 20

McCovey08_4.jpg
Willie McCovey - 1979.
Chronicle File

Photo: Chronicle File

McCovey08_4.jpg
Willie McCovey - 1979.
Chronicle File

Image 7 of 20

Sept. 18, 1987: Pope John Paul II visits San Francisco for a mass at Candlestick Park. More than 70,000 showed up for the event.

Photo: Scott Sommerdorf, The Chronicle

Sept. 18, 1987: Pope John Paul II visits San Francisco for a mass...

Image 8 of 20

Jack Sanford throws out the opening pitch of Game 2 of the World Series for the Giants at Candlestick Park. Oct. 5, 1962.

Photo: Joe Rosenthal, The Chronicle

Jack Sanford throws out the opening pitch of Game 2 of the World...

Image 9 of 20

BEATLES6-29AUG1966-BC The Beatles arrive in San Francisco on August 29, 1966 for their concert at Candlestick Park. Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon and George Harrison are shown walking down the stairs from an airplane. CENTURY BOOK

Photo: Bob Campbell, SFC

BEATLES6-29AUG1966-BC The Beatles arrive in San Francisco on...

Image 10 of 20

QUAKE1/B/17OCT89/CD/BW - World Series was interupted by the 7.1 Loma Preita EARTHQUAKE that hit San Francisco. Players and fans stayed at Candlestick Park for hours before the game was canceled. Photo by Brant Ward
Ran on: 10-09-2009
A fan hurriedly scrawled a sign at Candlestick Park, but it would be another 12 days before the Giants would bat.

Photo: Brant Ward, The Chronicle

QUAKE1/B/17OCT89/CD/BW - World Series was interupted by the 7.1...

Image 11 of 20

SAN FRANCISCO - DECEMBER 7: Defensive tackle Archie Reese #78 of the San Francisco 49ers holds the game ball in the locker room following the game against the New Orleans Saints at Candlestick Park on December 7, 1980 in San Francisco, California. The Niners came back from a 35-7 deficit to win 38-35 in the greatest regular season comeback in NFL history. (Photo by Michael Zagaris/Getty Images)

Photo: Michael Zagaris, Getty Images

SAN FRANCISCO - DECEMBER 7: Defensive tackle Archie Reese #78 of...

Image 12 of 20

San Francisco Giants pitcher Juan Marichal (27) swings a bat at Los Angeles Dodgers catcher John Roseboro in the third inning at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Aug. 22, 1965 when Marichal apparently felt Roseboro had thrown too close to his head. Los Angeles pitcher Sandy Koufax, rear, tries to break up the fight. Marichal was ejected and Roseboro was treated for facial cuts after the incident. This photo is included in "Giants Past & Present" by Dan Fost, published in 2010 by MVP Books.

In this Nov. 8, 1981, file photo, San Francisco 49ers head coach Bill Walsh holds his arms in the air in victory after the 49ers defeated the Atlanta Falcons 17-14 in an NFL football game at Candlestick Park in San Francisco.

Photo: Associated Press

In this Nov. 8, 1981, file photo, San Francisco 49ers head coach...

Image 14 of 20

Candlestick Park. The stadium is best known for hosting the Beatles' final concert (shown), and in August 2013, Paul McCartney said he'd like to play one last concert there before it gets demolished.

Photo: Stan Creighton, The Chronicle

Candlestick Park. The stadium is best known for hosting the...

Image 15 of 20

An exterior view of Candlestick Park as boats bring fans in for the very first game in the new ballpark in 1960.

Photo: Jon Brenneis, Getty Images

An exterior view of Candlestick Park as boats bring fans in for the...

Image 16 of 20

Jan. 21, 1962: After snow fell on San Francisco and the Peninsula, Chronicle photographer Gordon Peters took photos from an airplane. This is Candlestick Park.

Photo: Gordon Peters, The Chronicle

Jan. 21, 1962: After snow fell on San Francisco and the Peninsula,...

Image 17 of 20

April 20, 1961: Herb Caen at Giants opening day at Candlestick Park.

Photo: Bob Campbell, The Chronicle

April 20, 1961: Herb Caen at Giants opening day at Candlestick Park.

Image 18 of 20

The National Anthem during opening game of the 1962 World Series at Candlestick Park between the SF Giants and the New York Yankees.

Photo: SF Archive

The National Anthem during opening game of the 1962 World Series at...

Image 19 of 20

The San Francisco 49ers played the Detroit Lions at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, Calif., on Sunday September 16, 2012 for their home season opener.

Photo: Stephen Lam, Special To The Chronicle

The San Francisco 49ers played the Detroit Lions at Candlestick...

Image 20 of 20

Steve Young and Jerry Rice embrace after connecting for Rice's 2nd of 3 TDs as the 49ers win over the Ram's at Candlestick Park. Dexter Carter joins in.

On Monday the 49ers will play their last regular season game at Candlestick Park, and sometime in 2014 the old stadium will be blown up.

For the fans who watched Willie Mays patrol center field, the Beatles play their final concert, Joe Montana throw the impossible backpedaling pass to Dwight Clark that launched a dynasty and Jerry Rice set the all-time touchdown record, it's a time for fond memories. The frozen nights spent huddled with a few hundred fans, watching fly balls blown by hurricane-force winds fall harmlessly to earth, are magically swallowed up in the nostalgic glow.

But the concrete bowl on Jamestown Avenue deserves a full, warts-and-all obituary. And so, 55 years after it came into the world with a bang and a few months before it exits with an even bigger one, let us bury and praise Candlestick Park.

The Stick came into existence because Horace Stoneham, owner of the New York Giants, insisted on it. In 1957, when Stoneham began talking with San Francisco Mayor George Christopher about the possibility of moving his team west, his chief condition was that the city build a modern stadium.

San Francisco's beloved minor league team, the Seals of the Pacific Coast League, played at Seals Stadium at 16th and Bryant streets. Seals Stadium was a classic neighborhood ballpark, but it had only 23,000 seats and no parking. Stoneham demanded that San Francisco build a 43,000-seat stadium with spaces for 12,000 cars.

A downtown location was considered, but the major department stores - joined by The Chronicle and the Examiner - opposed this option, fearing it would harm their business. Instead, officials chose a site on Candlestick Point, a 77-acre parcel east of Bayview Hill in the extreme southeastern corner of town, most of it owned by a contractor named Charles Harney.

The site is only a few hundred yards north of what was once a seasonal village of the Yelamu tribe. The Yelamu were no fools, and their sites were generally warm and protected from the wind. Unfortunately, no Yelamu were consulted during the construction of Candlestick.

Harney sold the land to the city for a $2 million profit and received a no-bid contract to build the stadium - a situation that led to dueling lawsuits between the city and Harney. (When grand jury foreman Henry North said the city had gotten a bad deal, Christopher retorted that "Henry North got drunk and made incoherent statements." North sued for slander for $1.3 million. They made it up over a reported fifth and a half of Scotch.)

Harney Stadium?

Erroneously assuming the ballpark would be named after him, Harney painted "Harney Stadium" on his trucks. When he was disabused, his petulance was so great that he allegedly slowed construction on the park. In an effort to be helpful, Chronicle columnist Charles McCabe suggested Harney change his name to "Charley Candlestick."

The sports editors of the city's four leading papers asked their readers to submit their favorite names. On March 4, 1959, The Chronicle's sports section ran a big headline announcing, "It's Official: 'Candlestick Park.' "

A total of 102 of the 20,000 readers who responded had selected that name, which the city ultimately settled on over such suggestions as Argonaut Stadium and Zephyr Park - the latter uncomfortably close to the truth.

The name was taken from Candlestick Point - which in turn may have been named after the rocks on the hill, implausibly said to resemble candlesticks, or for the long-billed curlew, known as the candlestick bird, once common to the area.

But for fans and frostbitten players, Candlestick would forever conjure up just one thing: wind. As in, the wind that blows out the flame of a candlestick.

Even before the park opened, Chub Feeney, the Giants' vice president, was given a foretaste of bad gusts to come. During the two years the stadium was being built, as Ron Fimrite noted in a 1986 article in Sports Illustrated, Feeney used to drive out to watch the construction. He always went during the morning, and enjoyed the sun and the view.

One day he went there after lunch and encountered gusts. Feeney asked a worker if the wind always blew like this.

"Oh, no," the man replied. "Only between 1 and 5 in the afternoon."

Nixon's endorsement

Candlestick Park opened on April 12, 1960, to rave reviews. In a statement whose accuracy rivaled those he made during Watergate, Vice President Richard Nixon told a local sportswriter, "This will be one of the most beautiful baseball parks of all time." Nixon also threw out the first pitch, which may have placed a curse on the joint.

But Nixon was not alone in his praise. The publisher of the Sporting News called it "simply wonderful, marvelous, unbelievable. Baseball has never seen anything to compare with it."

On the eve of its demise, it is hard to believe - but Candlestick was, in fact, the first truly modern ballpark. It was the first stadium to be entirely built of reinforced concrete, and the first one with a modern electronic scoreboard, the largest in baseball at the time. No other stadium had been built at such a steep angle, which provided unobstructed views from almost all seats. And it was equipped with state-of-the-art amenities like radiant heating under the seats.

But the good feelings didn't last long. The radiant heating didn't work, leading attorney Melvin Belli to successfully sue the Giants. He wore a parka into the courtroom to demonstrate how cold his box was.

And the Candlestick winds became the stuff of legend when a gust hit pitcher Stu Miller during the 1961 All-Star Game and caused him to balk. Instantly, the myth that Miller had been blown off the mound sprang up. Miller told Fimrite, "There were 44,000 people in the park that day, but over the years I bet I've had at least 100,000 people tell me they saw me flying in the air. You'd think I'd been blown out into the bay."

Niners didn't mind

The Giants suffered from the winds that swirled through the Stick, but the 49ers, who began playing there in 1971, thrived. Roger Craig, the great running back of the 1980s, told me, "We used the conditions to our advantage. I remember once when we were playing the Broncos, it was so windy Joe (Montana) could hardly throw a pass at all. But Bill Walsh was creative. He had Joe throw outs and hitches, short passes.

"And we were used to running on wet fields," Craig said. (Among its other problems, Candlestick had grass that tended to be bog-like.) "Jerry Rice would run these incredibly precise routes and the defenders would fall down."

The Stick was a freezing old eyesore in a rough neighborhood with terrible access roads. But it was more than that. It was a place where, for more than half a century, happy memories were created for millions of people. That's reason enough to raise a glass - or better, a hip flask - to Candlestick Park.

Trivia time

Last week's trivia question: Name four streets or spots in San Francisco with a "philosopher" or a philosopher in the name.

Answer: The Philosopher's Club bar in West Portal; Philosopher's Way trail in McLaren Park; Berkeley Way in Diamond Heights; and Emerson Street near Geary and Masonic.

This week's trivia question: Where is the northeastern corner of the city and county of San Francisco?

Editor's note

Every corner in San Francisco has an astonishing story to tell. Every Saturday, Gary Kamiya's Portals of the Past will tell one of those lost stories, using a specific location to illuminate San Francisco's extraordinary history - from the days when giant mammoths wandered through what is now North Beach, to the Gold Rush delirium, the dot-com madness and beyond.

Gary Kamiya is the author of the best-selling book "Cool Gray City of Love: 49 Views of San Francisco." E-mail: metro@sfchronicle.com